The Orogrande Slaughter
The pictures in the linked report were taken during 4 separate trips within just an 11-day period from 2-28-2008 through 3-9-2008. The location of the elk predation by wolves was along a small section of road at Orogrande Creek, which empties into the North Fork of the Clearwater River in North Central Idaho. This small section of this huge country is indicative of how severe the predation has been this winter as elk have been trapped by deep snow and are easily killed by wolves.
Warning: the pictures are graphic and gruesome.
The Orogrande Slaughter is [here].
by Sam W.
I completely agree with you. The area south of Avery, Idaho, is a prime hunting area that I have been to many times, and this is sickening.
People need to understand that this is not the “Circle of Life” or the “Balance of Nature.” Those phrases are trite and meaningless in the real world.
As human beings we are the caretakers of this planet. We choose which animal populations rise and fall. Turning our backs on this slaughter is an active choice we could but should not make. Any “balance” that may or may not exist is our responsibility.
We cannot wash our hands of it and say that Mother Nature makes the choices. That is cowardly, irresponsible, and factually inaccurate.
by Steve S.
Yes, its out of balance. It will take some time to get back into balance. We can’t get instant gratification on this issue. Kill all the wolves now is not the answer. Someone needs to do some reading to find out about how populations rise and fall with predator and prey populations. It isn’t pretty watching a population in the process of balancing itself. Perhaps the wild ungulate population might have been at unnaturally high numbers all these years because the wolf was absent.
The “balance” is a rude mirage and a political talking point without foundation in the real world.
I will say this again and again until you people catch a clue:
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS THE BALANCE OF NATURE.
There is no such thing as “unnaturally high numbers,” or “unnaturally low numbers” for that matter.
Nature is not a check book that needs balancing.
Drop the Disneyesque superstition mantra and join the real world. We, the human race, are the keystone predators, and we, the human race, determine all the numbers of all the other populations, like it or not.
Do you want 3 wolves? We can do that. Do you want 3 million wolves? We can do that. Do you want 1, 75, 69,000, 450,000 elk? We can do that.
We are in charge, for better or worse, richer or poorer, and have been for 10,000+ years, and will continue to be.
There is no escape from that reality. That’s how the system works. You can’t just declare some magical number as “balance” and pretend that humans do not determine it.
I am sick of the pseudo-ecology that pervades the thinking. Please face the facts.
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS THE BALANCE OF NATURE.
I think after seeing this for myself and knowing this is for the public to see-from people who are there and can report this-it should let people know we have a serious wolf problem. This needs to get to the ones in control and get them off their butts and get this issue solved or under control. The hunting in Idaho brings a large amount of money into our state every year. If we do not have the heads up for selection we will soon suffer, since wolves do not support the economy and cannot be looked upon to control themselves.
The human race must control this balance. This should open eyes to the seriousness of losing this many animals to waste. Idaho better get on the ball or we will suffer major losses of life, money, and eventually-if wolves do not get wild food-they will prey on domestic animals and humans. Wake up Idaho to your wolf problem. Bears and cougars do not prey for the SPORT of the kill. Only wolves and humans do. And one is controlled the other is not.